Tableau Community, Meet Salesforce and the Trailblazers

Hello Tableau Community,

We have big news to share, Tableau has entered into an agreement to be acquired by Salesforce.

I know, shocker, right?!?

This emerged as a really special opportunity to accelerate our mission. We’ve been at this for a while, from those original days at Stanford when Chris, Christian, and Pat came together with the crazy idea that they could make data understandable by ordinary people. That turned into a revolution with visual analytics that are now used by millions of people worldwide.

At the same time, despite the success, we have only touched a fraction of the people who can benefit. The opportunity is much bigger now than we originally realized sixteen years ago. There is so much more to do. Joining Salesforce will help us accelerate and expand the change in the world we are so fanatical about.

Following the closing, we expect to be operating independently under the Tableau brand. The passionate Tableau team will still be here to support you. We’ll still wake up every day, thinking about what we can do to help even more people see and understand data. We’ll still come to work every day, striving to build analytics products you love to use. And we’ll still be big supporters and participants in the amazing Tableau Community.

There is no better representation of what makes Tableau unique than the Tableau Community. Beyond of course the product, the Tableau Community has been both why and how we’ve succeeded together. How we’ve grown our careers. How we’ve helped our companies be smarter and more productive. How we’ve supported the organizations that make the world a better place.

The core elements of the Tableau Community won’t change. We’ll keep engaging with each other via Tableau Public, Tableau Conferences, and Tableau User Groups. We’ll still work together with the Tableau Zen Masters and Tableau Ambassadors who give back and provide mentorship and guidance for the Tableau Community.

I know this is a lot to get your head around, especially for those that have been on this journey with us the longest. You might be thinking the Tableau Community is going to lose what makes it so special. I don’t see it that way. I see this as an opportunity to amplify the great work we’ve started together. Part of what makes this a great match is Salesforce’s own passion for community. More than 1.4 million people in the Trailblazer Community coming together to learn, connect, have fun, and give back. Sound familiar? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting there could be anything out there like the Tableau Community. But these look like pretty great allies to keep finding even more ways to make Community amazing.

Yesterday, our mission was to help people see and understand data. Guess what – same mission tomorrow, but we get to go faster and have even more impact together. Looking forward to seeing you at TCE and TC!

Together, we are Extraordinary,
Francois Ajenstat, CPO

Additional Information and Where to Find It: The exchange offer referenced in this communication has not yet commenced. This communication is for informational purposes only and is neither an offer to purchase nor a solicitation of an offer to sell shares, nor is it a substitute for any offer materials that Tableau Software, Inc. (the “Company”), salesforce.com, inc. (“salesforce”) or its acquisition subsidiary, Sausalito Acquisition Corp. (the “Purchaser”) will file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). At the time the exchange offer is commenced, salesforce and the Purchaser will file a tender offer statement on Schedule TO, salesforce will file a registration statement on Form S-4 and the Company will file a Solicitation/Recommendation Statement on Schedule 14D-9 with the SEC with respect to the exchange offer. THE EXCHANGE OFFER MATERIALS (INCLUDING AN OFFER TO EXCHANGE, A RELATED LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL AND CERTAIN OTHER EXCHANGE OFFER DOCUMENTS) AND THE SOLICITATION/RECOMMENDATION STATEMENT WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION. STOCKHOLDERS OF THE COMPANY ARE URGED TO READ THESE DOCUMENTS CAREFULLY WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION THAT HOLDERS OF THE COMPANY’S SECURITIES SHOULD CONSIDER BEFORE MAKING ANY DECISION REGARDING EXCHANGING THEIR SECURITIES. The Solicitation/Recommendation Statement, the Offer to Exchange, the related Letter of Transmittal and certain other exchange offer documents will be made available to all of the Company’s stockholders at no expense to them. The exchange offer materials and the Solicitation/Recommendation Statement will be made available for free on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Copies of the documents filed with the SEC by salesforce will be available free of charge under the Financials heading of the Investor Relations section of salesforce’s website at www.salesforce.com/investor. Copies of the documents filed with the SEC by the Company will be available free of charge under the SEC filings heading of the Investors section of the Company’s website.

Forward-Looking Statements: This communication contains forward-looking information related to the Company and the acquisition of the Company by salesforce that involves substantial risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Forward-looking statements in this release include, among other things, statements about the potential benefits of the proposed transaction, the Company’s plans, objectives, expectations and intentions, the financial condition, results of operations and business of the Company, and the anticipated timing of closing of the proposed transaction. Risks and uncertainties include, among other things, risks related to the ability of the Company to consummate the proposed transaction on a timely basis or at all, including due to complexities resulting from the adoption of new accounting pronouncements and associated system implementations; salesforce’s ability to successfully integrate the Company’s operations; salesforce’s ability to implement its plan, forecasts and other expectations with respect to the Company’s business after the completion of the transaction and realize expected synergies; the satisfaction of the conditions precedent to consummation of the proposed transaction, including having a sufficient number of the Company’s shares being validly tendered into the exchange offer to meet the minimum condition; the Company’s ability to secure regulatory approvals on the terms expected in a timely manner or at all; the ability to realize the anticipated benefits of the proposed transaction, including the possibility that the expected benefits from the proposed transaction will not be realized or will not be realized within the expected time period; disruption from the transaction making it more difficult to maintain business and operational relationships; the negative side effects of the announcement or the consummation of the proposed transaction on the market price of the Company’s common stock or on the Company’s operating results; significant transaction costs; unknown liabilities; the risk of litigation and/or regulatory actions related to the proposed transaction; competitive factors, including new market entrants and changes in the competitive environment, pricing changes, sales cycle time and increased competition; customer demand for the Company’s products and services and customer response to the Company’s subscription offerings; ability to attract, integrate and retain qualified personnel; the Company’s ability to protect its intellectual property rights and develop its brand; the ability to develop new services and product features; other business effects, including the effects of industry, market, economic, political or regulatory conditions, including expenditure trends for business analytics and productivity tools; future exchange and interest rates; changes in tax and other laws, regulations, rates and policies, including those related to the provision of services on the Internet, those related to accessing the Internet and those addressing data privacy and import and export controls; future business combinations or disposals; and the uncertainties inherent in research and development.

Further information on these and other risk and uncertainties relating to the Company can be found in its reports on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K and in other filings the Company makes with the SEC from time to time and available at www.sec.gov. These documents are available under the SEC filings heading of the Investors section of the Company’s website.

The forward-looking statements included in this communication are made only as of the date hereof. The Company assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law.